Nurse Busted for DWI after Concerned Citizen Reports Erratic Driver

Around 11:37 PM on September 10, 2022, a witness notified Police about an erratic driver who was driving a black 2016 Jeep in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The caller told Police that the driver had damaged a sign on Harristown Road and that he was following the vehicle until Police stopped the driver. In response to this call, Officer Stephen Buskiewicz was able to locate a vehicle matching the description and stopped the driver on Fair Lawn Avenue near Burbank Street. He approached the vehicle and made contact with the driver, who was identified as 31-year-old Jacqueline Strasser. Around the same time, Officers Michael O’Brien, Salvatore Marotta, and Bradley Pindyck also arrived on scene. After he made contact, Officer Buskiewicz noticed indicators of impairment and asked the driver to exit the vehicle. He asked Jacqueline where she was coming from and she told him that she was at her friend’s house. When he asked her how much she had to drink, she responded that she probably had two drinks. Based on his suspicion of impairment, he asked Jacqueline if she would be willing to participate in field sobriety exercises. Jacqueline agreed, and he began by administering the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test. As Officer Buskiewicz was conducting field sobriety exercises, Officer O’Brien walked over to the witness who had reported the erratic driver so that he could gather more information. After the HGN test was complete, Officer Buskiewicz decided to terminate the field sobriety exercises out of concern for her safety. Instead, he told Jacqueline that she was under arrest for driving under the influence. Officer Marotta placed the handcuffs on Jacqueline and escorted her to Officer Buskiewicz’s patrol car. A search of her vehicle revealed an open container of alcohol. After her vehicle was searched, it was impounded for a mandatory 12-hour hold under John’s Law. Officer Buskiewicz subsequently transported Jacquline to the Fair Lawn Police Department for further processing. After Jacqueline was processed at Fair Lawn Police HQ, she was issued the following summonses: Operating under the influence, unsafe operation of a vehicle, and DWI within 1,000 feet of school property. Court records indicate that on September 14, 2022, the citation for DWI within 1,000 feet of school property was dismissed. On December 14, 2022, Jacqueline pleaded guilty to operating under the influence and unsafe operation of a vehicle. Following her guilty plea, Jacqueline was fined $440 for unsafe operation of a vehicle and $690 for operating under the influence. In addition to her fines, Jacqueline was also required to use an ignition interlock device for 3 months and spend 12 hours at an intoxicated driver resource center as a result of pleading guilty to operating under the influence. --------------------------------------------------------------- Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and consider supporting this channel (email us for more information). Donations will be used to acquire more public footage related to law enforcement activities. Our content is educational and in compliance with YouTube's Fair Use Policy because we edit several long clips into a concise story. This is similar to other law enforcement channels on YouTube. All videos and case documents were obtained pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (P.L. 2001, c. 404). Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. The New Jersey Supreme Court has previously affirmed in Salzano v. North Jersey Media Group, 993 A.2d 778 (2010) that “The fair-report privilege reflects the judgment that the need, in a self-governing society, for free-flowing information about matters of public interest outweighs concerns over the uncompensated injury to a person's reputation.” This video advances a compelling public interest. The summary of events was based on records that are “open to public view through open access to public records” as defined in the Salzano case. In Ramos v. Flowers, 429 N.J. Super. 13, the Appellate Division of the Superior Court has also affirmed the right to film law enforcement interactions.